Robust, efficient STOBER PSS gearbox

Clean, efficient production of food and beverage products has never been more important. Just one product recall or serious outbreak of disease can ruin a brand's reputation or even shut a company down.

STOBER Drives, Inc., of Maysville, Ky., has developed the PSS, a new stainless steel inline planetary unit that helps alleviate worry about sanitation during food and beverage processing. "The highly-efficient unit can handle ratios from 4 to 100:1 and is adaptable to several NEMA C-frame motors," said Mike Mitchell, business development manager at STOBER. It also withstands the harshest of wash down environments.

While food and beverage manufacturers are likely educated constantly on the importance of cleanliness on a cellular level when it comes to production and sanitation, Mitchell gives three reasons why plant managers and engineers need to remain diligent on machinery efficiency and sanitation.

-- The organic trend in food and drinks -- "Consumers today select healthier foods and packaged drinks that contain fewer additives and preservatives," said Mitchell. Many people today have compromised immune systems or food allergies or are sensitive to colors and fragrances, too.

The emphasis on organics and health foods means a shorter shelf life on ingestible products and an even smaller margin for error when it comes to bacterial contamination.

"All it takes is one listeria or E. coli breakout to undo years of creating marketing and brand positioning," said Mitchell. "While manufacturers have always been concerned with food safety, the margin for error is ever-shrinking when it comes to safe, allowable contaminants in food or drinks."

"The rounded housing of the PSS makes it more difficult for bacteria to grow and spread," he said. "Innovation is constant and equipment efficiency and design ever-improving among those of us who manufacture machinery and engine parts related to factory production of food and beverages," he said. "It pays in many ways to keep up on innovations and new machinery trends."

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